Improved safety apparatus for steam-boilers



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE XV. RAINS, OF NEWBURG, NEV-V YORK.

IMPROVED SAFETY APPARATUS FOR STEAM-BOILERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 32,532, dated June 11, 186i.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. BAINS, of Newburg, in the county of Orange and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Safety Apparatus for Steam-Boilers; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figures 1 and 2 are elevations of the apparatus, taken at right angles to each other and both partly in section. Figs. 8, 4, and 5 are plans of portions of the apparatus. Fig. 6 is a front view of some portions of the apparatus, exhibiting them in a different condition from Fig. 1. i

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

This invention consists in certain improvements in the apparatus which constitutes the subject-matter of Letters Patent issued to me April 24:, 1860, and reissued July 24, 1860.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, l will proceed. to describe its construction and operation.

A represents an upright cylinder, of brass or other metal, about ten inches in height, intended to be so arranged near the boiler that the middle of its length will be at or near the height of the proper water -level and connected at its lower end by a pipe, a, with the water-space of the boiler and near its upper end by a pipe or passage, b, with the steamspace thereof, so that it is always kept supplied with water from the boiler to the same level-as the boiler itself.

B is a piston iitted loosely to the interior of the cylinder A, `and attached to a rod, O, which works through a stuffing-box, d d, in the cover A and bottom A2 of the cylinder, the attachment being of such a character that,

though the piston is compelled to move up and down with the rod, a limited lateral movement of the rod within it is permitted to prevent the possibility of its binding in the cylinder in case of the springing of the rod. This piston is intended to be lifted up from and dropped onto the surface of the water in the cylinder in the same manner as the piston of the apparatus which constitutes the subjectmatter of my Letters Patent hereinbefore mentioned. The said piston has two or more holes, c e, right through it, and is fitted on its under side with a ring-valve, e, to close the said holes. This valve, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and also in Fig. 3,) which is an inverted plan of the piston, is attached to the piston by three screws, fff, which allow it to drop a short distance below the piston to permit steam to pass freely through the latter in its descent through the upper portion of the cylinder. The said valve on the piston, descend ing to the surface of the water, is arrested by the resistance of the water and thus caused to close the holes c c c; but when the descent of the piston is arrested the valve drops again onto the heads of the screws f f f. The piston-rod has attached to its lower'part below the cylinder, a weight, WV, sufficient to overcome the friction of the stuffing-boxes d d and produce the descent of the piston androd in the cylinder.

At the bottom of the cylinder there i's a throat, g,of inverted conical form, which supersedes the valve used in my patented apparatus hereinbefore mentioned and renders the apparatus less liable to derangement. The opening of this throat is made sufficiently larger than the piston to permit a free water communication between the cylinder and the boiler, but yet to prevent too much of the water being driven back int-o the boiler by the falling of the piston, so that the latter maybe arrested almost instantaneously on its arrival in contact with the water. By making the said throat of inverted conical form the collection of sediment around the piston-rod to close the water-passage is prevented, as a strong current of water is caused to pass between it and the piston-rod at each fall of the piston. The said throat is represented as formed in the solid metal of the cylinder-bottom; but it may be made of a separate piece with a flange to rest on a shoulder provided in the cylinder-bottom, where it will always remain. The pipe a connects with the cylinder below this throat, and provision is made for cleaning it out by a screw-plug, a', (see Fig. 2,) on the opposite side of the cylinderbottom.

D is a wheel from which the piston-rod and piston derive motion, as will be presently described. This wheel is secured to a short horizontal shaft, E, arranged in a suitable bearing ina standard, F, secured to the boiler or to A piston. Fig. 4 is a plan of the said clamp.

any othersuitable support, and is intended to have a very slow rotary motion, which may be produced by its being furnished on its periphery with ratchet-teeth to be acted upon by a dog, H', attached to a rocker, H, operated by the eccentric-rod of the engine. p 19 are pawls engaging with the ratchet-teeth to prevent the wheel D from moving backward.

OnA the face of the wheel D there are two pins, z' and j, and a projecting arc, k, the pin Z, nearest the center, projecting farther for- Ward than the pinvj and arc.

I L is a clamp consisting of a slide, I, fitted with a dog, L, and fitted to the piston-rod in such manner as to be capable of moving up and down thereon. This is acted upon bythe shorter pin, j, to raise the said rod and the The dog L works on a pin, Z, and is constructed or furnished with a weighted arm, Z', which tends to keep it free of the rod, and with an arm, Z2, whose duty will be hereinafter eX- plained. On the underV side of t-he slide I there is a downward projection, Z3, to rest on a fixed stop, F', standing out in front of the standard F. This stop should have on its upper end a cushion of india-rubber faced with tion Z3 when the dog drops.

J is a weight fitted to slide on the pistonrod and furnished with a dog, M, working on a pin,l h, to grip the said rod. Fig. 5 i's aplan of this weight,\vhose duty it is to act upon the clamp I L to cause it to arrest the piston-rod and piston in their descent. The dog M is so weighted at m that, though always free to move upward upon the piston-rod, it always tends to grip the rod', so as to be prevented from sliding down upon it when not acted upon by other means, and it is furnished with a tail, n, which hangs down below the weight. The pin j in the wheel and the arc 7c are made they may pass the weight J in their revolution with the wheel.

The upper portion of the piston-rod C is made' larger than the lower portion, and the larger portion is iiattened on one side, and the weight J has its opening, which fits the said rod, of corresponding form to prevent its turning thereon, and that side of the upper and larger portion on which the dogs Z and m are situated is toothed or roughened to give the dogs a good hold upon it.

YThe weight J is fitted with a screw, Zt', whose end is adjusted to produce a certain degree of friction on the flat side of the piston-'rod'.

N is a cat-ch attached by a pinn), to the upper part of the standard F for the'purpose of disengaging the dog m from the piston-rod during the descent of the latter, the said catch being so hung and weighted as to be moved aside bythe said dog in the ascent of the piston-rod, but to drop under the dog before the piston-rod completes its upward movement.

oSQ

Q, for controlling the feed-regulating cock R in the suction-pipe R' of the feed-pump, and from the other arm a rod, S, for opening the valve of a steam-Whistle, T, which is attached to the upper part of the cylinder A. The connection of the rod Q with the feed-regulating cock R is by a slot, q, provided in the said rodto receive a wrist, r, on the lever R2 of the cock, the length of the said slot being ,about equal to the distance of the upward movement given to the piston-rod by the pin i j. The rod S has provided upon it two tappets, s s', the distance between which is greater than the distance which the piston is generally raised by the pin j, the said tappetsbeing for the purpose of acting upon a small lever, t, that is so applied in connection with the valve of the whistle T that it will open the said valve either by an upward or downward movement. metal, to prevent the battering of the projec- The wheel D rotates very slowlysay about three times every minute-in the direction of the arrow shown upon it in Fig. l, and the action it produces during each revolution is `as follows: Let it be first supposed that the apparatus is in the condition represented in 1 Fig. l, the piston resting on the water in the cylinder, the slide I of the clamp I L res-ting i on the stop F', the dog L of the said clamp 1 being held in contact with the piston-rod by its' arm Z' resting against the interior of the arc 7c, and the weight J resting on the clamp I L. The rotation of the wheel D brings the pin z' under the weight J and moves the said weight up the piston-rod, and afterward brings less prominent than the pin z', in order that,v

the pin'j into action on the underside of the arm Z' of the dogL of the clamp I L and causes g the said clamp to lift the piston-rod and raise the piston B from the water in the cylinder A.

Theweight J remains clamped to the pisg ton-rod by its dog M after the pin j in its revol lution has passed out of contact with it, and

. hence is caused to rise with the piston-rod as I the latter continues its ascent, passing the hook of the catch N. When the pin j passes out of contact with the arm Z' of theV clamp I L, the said arm drops and removes the tooth of thedog L from thev piston-rod, and the clam-p I L, the weight J ,l and the piston-rod and piston all drop together. The clamp I L, being perfectly free, falls' quickly upon the support F but the piston-rod, being subject to the friction of the packing in the stuffingboXes, has its descent a little retarded, and

hence a short interval of time elapses beforeV the weight J is unlocked bythe catch m' on its arm m falling upon the hook of the catch N, as represented in Fig. 6, which shows the rod, clamp, and weight all falling together. The weight J is now left entirely free, and

continues its descent until, on the arrest of the piston by striking the water, the said weight falls upon the clamp IL, and a spring protuberance, w, on its under side, by striking the arm Z2 of the dog L causes the latter to bite the piston-rod and prevent its further descent. In this operation the dog I L is always raised to the same height and the piston always raised the same distance; but the distance of the fall of the piston varies, as it is arrested very exactly at the surface of the water in the cylinder whatever the height of that surface may happen to be at the moment of its fall. The arms Q and S rise and fall with the piston, and so long as the water in the cylinder does not change its level the cock R and whistle T are not acted upon, the slot q beng as long as and the distance between the tappets longer than the distance which the piston is lifted. Should the level of the water become lower, the pist-on has to fall lower to reach its surface, and the rods Q and S, moving lower also, the upper end of the slot will move the lever R2 downward and thus give a larger opening for the water to the forcepump and cause an increased feed. Should the level of the water in the cylinder rise, the reverse action takes place and the feed is diminished. In case of the water from any cause getting dangerously low or objectionably high in spite of the action of the lever Q on the lever of the supply-cock, or in case of those parts of the apparatus getting out of order, the piston, continuing to fall lower or rise higher, brings the Tappet s or s into action on the lever t, and so causes an alarm to be given by the whistle. This action will also generally take place in case of any of the working parts of the instrument getting out of order, for as the good condition of all the moving parts is essential to the proper action of the apparatus should any one part fail the piston will not be arrested at the surface of the water, but will continue to rise above or sink below the same untilthe alarm shall have been sounded.

On the upper part of the standard F there is placed a iiXed scale, U, upon which the true level of the water at each fall of the piston may be indicated by a pointer or index rigidly attached to the upper part of the pistonrod. A

The arc k may be placed in such a position on the wheelD as to bear againsta projection on the arm Z2 of the dog I in such a manner as to serve the purpose of the pin j, which in that case would be dispensed with.

The weight J may be arranged with projecting guides touching the wheel D, and in that case the piston-rod will not require to be flatten ed on its front side.

The screw in the weight J, with the dog M attached to said weight, may be separately used or co1nbined,as represented in the drawings.

What I claim as my invention, and desire 2. Furnishing the piston B with one or more I valves, e, applied to operate substantially as herein described, for the purpose set forth.

3. The independent weight J applied to the piston-rod C, to operate in combination with the dog I L,.substantially as and for the purpose herein specified.

GEO. WV. BAINS.

Witnesses:

J AMES B. BEVERIDGE, WILLIAM SILLIMAN, 

